Rule Book Updating Opportunities

Inclusion for Ease of Knowledge Distribution

This is a
mature and developed league. As a new owner coming in, I have been using the
rule book as my primary source for information. It contains a ton of good
material, and it looks like a lot of work has gone into creating, updating, and
modifying the document over a period of time. I’ve seen what I think are opportunities
to make the existing document updated, more robust, and make the league
happenings a little more obvious and transparent.

League
Offices Section

This section
lists Wesley Walsh as commissioner. Pretty sure updating this would be easy.

It also calls
out a Webmaster, and I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. I have no
knowledge of this, so it may be accurate.

It then has a
space for Player Agents and it’s blank. I’ve been negotiating with Ken, so I would
think he would go here. I don’t know when the other agents are (if any). Feels
like that’s another simple addition.

Owners’
Duties Section

This section
comments on emails needing to be answered. In a later section (XXI) it mentions
Slack as an optional channel for owners. I feel that it should be mandatory at
this point. Most owners (if not all) probably use DM’s in Slack as their primary
means of communication with other owners. It feels like this would be the
section to include an explanation on what Slack is, what channels to add and
how to add them, and general etiquette on the use of Slack.

It also
discusses that owners need to set their lines but doesn’t mention OGME as the
way to do that. This feels like the right space to call out whoever it is that
helps run and maintain our OGME (unless that’s added to the League Offices
section).

Participation
Section

No comments.
This section was self-explanatory to me and needed no updating.

Finances

This section
is very short, and it could almost have been a dozen pages on its own.

I would definitely
move the Revenue Section (currently section XIX of the Rule Book) as a
subsection of or addition to this section.

If we wanted
to, we could explain what workouts are and how they work here. There is a link
on the site under GM tools to the workout costs, but the Rule Book itself doesn’t
mention it that I remember seeing. Adding a link to the sheet from the Rule
Book would be a nice touch as well.

Salary Cap
Section

Pretty basic
and I didn’t see any revisions to be made.

Switching
Position Section

Also, basic
and no revisions I could see.

Drafts and
Draft Lottery

Well built
out. I like it.

Entry
Level Contracts

Self-explanatory
and good. It could almost be a subsection of the draft section if we wanted.

Injuries,
Rosters/ Waivers, Re-Entry Waivers, Releasing Players Sections

Nothing stood
out. All looked good.

Player Ratings
and Rerates Section

This was well
written. If possible, a link to the Great Rerate Spreadsheet could be added for
ease of access. It’s currently buried after you log in to the site, select a
team, click futures, and then scroll over to click on it.

This is also
probably the right section to include “buying back rerates” for young players.
This was mentioned to me, but I don’t know details. It sounds like a long-standing
rule, but I don’t remember seeing it mentioned. If I’m not sure how it works,
others may not know either.

Trades
Section

This lists an
older email address as the source to email for trades. This could be pretty
easily updated.

I don’t see
any mention of the Slack Channel for Trade Announcements.

There are no details
on Rental Trades. I’m still a little bit fuzzy on some of the rental trade
details, and this would be a perfect place for someone smarter than me to
include those details.

Suspensions

No comments.
Simple enough

RFA/ UFA
Sections

These are
good, but I think it probably needs to be made clearer that you, as an owner,
have negotiating rights to all of your current players. If you give your player
a fair market value deal, they are likely to resign. I have seen several folks
post that they are wanting to trade a player rather than lose them for nothing,
and I have seen people come back with the comment you don’t lose players unless
you want them gone. I’d like to see this discussed in more detail around how
those negotiations work. It would make it simpler for us newer owners.

It would also
be nice to have a section in the Rule Book about In-Season signings. There is a
post in Slack and there is a post on the Home Page of the site, but it looks
like we have created a new rule and haven’t yet had time to update the Rule
Book document.

The UFA
process itself should probably be mentioned here are well. I’m to understand
that it’s done in phases with certain players being thrown out each phase. Then
the top 3 or something teams bid on that player in a final round. It would be
nice to see that in writing in the Rule Book and maybe add a little color
around how players are chosen for each phase and how many phases there are.

No Trade,
Lines, Retirement, Hall of Fame, Elastic Clause Sections

No comment on
these. Pretty simple

Additional
Section

It would be
nice to have a section mentioning where to go to find certain information.
Almost like an Index at the end of a book. Here’s where you go to find
information on the incoming draft, here’s where you find the rerate package,
here’s where you can locate historical free agent or trade information, things like
that. I know you can usually find things by clicking around, but a little bit
of guidance for someone new could go a long way.

I feel a few
tweaks to the Rule Book would not only make the transition into the league a bit
smoother for new owners but help keep all owners on the same page with
regulations and expectations. None of these need to be implemented if it’s felt
it’s not worthwhile. These are just observations from a new owner who is trying
to learn as much as I can about a new league. 

By Matthew Waylan Smith